Anniversary Surprises
by mytwodaves
Summary: Modern A/U - Anna plans a special gift for her husband for their five year anniversary. Inspired by a lovely picture of JoFro.


So here it is, my first foray into Banna writing. Hope you all enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: John, Anna, and Downton Abbey don't belong to me. I'm just having a little fun with them and keeping them safe from harm.**

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"I wish you didn't have to go away again." Anna sat reclined against the pillows on their luxurious queen-sized bed, twirling a ringlet of her long blonde hair around her index finger as she watched John, her husband of nearly five years pack for yet another book tour, this one taking him to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles for three weeks.

She followed his form with her eyes as he moved about the room, pulling clothes from the wardrobe, piling them on the bed to organize before packing them in his large roller suitcase.

John sighed, "You know I hate leaving you, and especially so close to our anniversary, but my publisher thinks I need to do this tour now while my book is still popular in the states." He glanced at the gorgeous creature he called his wife, already dressed for bed in one of his faded U2 concert t-shirts and a pair of tiny pajama shorts. _God, how he hated leaving her_. They'd celebrate their five-year anniversary next month, but hadn't yet exited the honeymoon phase of their marriage. Each day with her felt more magical than the day prior, even with their frequent separations, with him being a best-selling author needing to promote his latest works.

As if she felt his gaze, growing more heated by the moment, she stopped her movements, taking the finger previously used twirling her hair and gently biting down on the tip, looking up at him with the big blue eyes she knew he couldn't resist. Just because he was leaving early in the morning didn't mean they couldn't have a proper goodbye beforehand.

John threw down the handful of shorts he was holding, ready to pack them into his suitcase and stalked over to his wife, a mischievous and knowing smile on his face. He knew all the racy ways of his wife, but allowed himself to play the fool knowing how much excitement it brought her when he succumbed to her charms. He perched on the side of the bed nearest her, one leg on the bed and the other long leg off and stretched out in front of him and reached his large hand to caress the part of her thigh not covered in pajama shorts. "You know how much I love you, right?" he asked gently, even though he was never left in doubt as to how much they did love each other.

"Of course I do, silly beggar. And I love you just as much, but that doesn't make this separation any easier." Anna couldn't keep a slight pout from gracing her features and the formation of tears in her eyes. For some reason, every little thing seemed to set her off lately. Of course, it could be the increase of hormones in her system. She and John had finally given in and started in vitro fertilization treatments after four years of unsuccessful attempts to grow their family. But she supposed a few tears and minor emotional outbursts would be a small price to pay to hold their first born in their arms. Assuming they were successful, of course.

John leaned in and left a gentle kiss on her lips, stroking her cheek softly with the pad of his thumb as he did so. "I'll miss you dreadfully, but I'll call you whenever I get a chance and text you in between those times. And when I come back, we'll celebrate our anniversary and get back to baby-making." He waggled his eyebrows before leaving another kiss on her lips to punctuate his statement.

"I wish we could do that second part right now, but it's not the ideal time and you do need to finish packing. But, I'll definitely take that rain check! At least with you gone, I'll have plenty of time to think of the perfect anniversary gift for you…" Anna smirked at him, knowing that he'd protest the need for her to get him a gift at all. He said time and time again that being married to her was gift enough for him, and one that he'd never tire of. But, since this was their five-year anniversary, she wanted to gift him something extra special.

"There's no need for gifts, my love. I'd be happy enough just coming home to you. Now I need finish packing so we can both get our rest." With one final gentle caress of her thigh, John pulled himself off the bed to continue his packing. Meanwhile, Anna began to think of the perfect gift for John, coming up with the perfect idea as she watched him neatly fold one of his dress shirts. John being gone for three weeks would be just the right amount of time to complete her plan, with an extra special surprise for them to enjoy together. She'd just need a little help from her friends.

John left for the airport and his trip to America the next morning, not before a long, and very thorough goodbye to his wife and promises to call and text before and after each take off and landing.

Anna went about her day cleaning up after John, some of his clothes that he'd picked out to pack never made the final trip to his suitcase, instead were left behind and strewn about on the floor and across the small settee in the corner of their bedroom. She smirked as she remembered the old settee left by the previous occupants of their flat and its unfortunate demise while 'christening' their first marital home.

Seeing that it was finally of a reasonable hour to begin making calls, Anna picked up her cell phone to call Sybil, John's goddaughter and a dear friend to the couple to enlist her help in the main portion of her plan. Due to the rather private nature of her idea, Anna only wanted to employ people she knew she could trust to be discreet and professional. Sybil was the black sheep of the family, forgoing the traditional professions of her sisters, Edith a librarian and Mary a museum curator, to become a very successful photographer. She'd be the perfect person to contact. Luckily for Anna, Sybil answered after only a few rings.

"Anna! So good to hear from you! How's Uncle John? Isn't he supposed to be off on another of his book tours again?"

"Hi Sybil, John's doing well and yes, he just left for Los Angeles this morning. But John being gone is exactly what I need to talk to you about…"

With that, Anna filled Sybil in on her plans and asked for her help. They scheduled a time for later in the week to begin working on Anna's surprise anniversary gift to her husband.

Later that evening, as Anna was getting ready to crawl into bed to attempt sleep without her husband by her side, she finally heard her husband's designated ringtone coming from her mobile. A quick check of the clock before answering told her John must have just touched down in Los Angeles.

"Hi John."

"Hi my love, just wanted to let you know that we just touched down in LA."

Anna smiled at the sound of finally hearing her husband's voice. Though it had only been a matter of twelve hours since she last spoke to him, it felt like an eternity. She'd been concerned when they first married and were inseparable that there'd be a time when she would feel like they were in each other's pockets. Thankfully, that time never came and each separation, no matter how long or short, felt like a part of each of them was missing.

"How was your flight? You didn't join the mile high club with some aspiring actress, did you?"

John chuckled at his wife's cheek, "You know my club has a _very_ exclusive membership policy and you're the only one with exclusive access. I miss you so much already, but the flight was uneventful. I tried to get some sleep, but sleep only comes easy when you're near. I suspect I'll be utterly exhausted when these three weeks are up."

"Well, you better not be too exhausted as I have very special plans for your return. And our anniversary. I plan on making up for lost time."

"These are going to be the longest three weeks of my life! Anyway, what did you get up to today, besides pining after your old husband?"

"Well, after you left for the airport, I went back to bed for a little while, then cleaned up the mess of strewn about clothes you left behind before phoning Sybil to discuss plans for your very special anniversary present."

"Oh? What would Sybil have to do with your gift idea?"

"Oh husband, but that would be telling! You'll just need to wait to find out! Though I can guarantee that you'll enjoy it. Very much."

So many thoughts were running through John's head. What could his wife be up to? And why did he have to be so many thousands of miles away from her right now? John was clearly distracted by his thoughts as he almost ran into a throng of people queuing up to go through customs.

"Love, I'll have to let you go now. I'm about ready to go through customs. I'll text you when I get to the hotel."

Glancing at the clock on her nightstand, she knew that she most likely would not be awake to receive John's text as it was going on midnight in London. This time difference would be the death of her this trip. "Ok, I'll let you go. I probably won't be awake when you get to the hotel, but I'll text you back as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning. I love you."

"I love you too. Sleep well."

The next weeks flew by for Anna and John, with John extremely busy giving lectures, interviews and book signings in America's largest cities. Aside from their conversation when John landed in LA, they were barely able to manage a few phone calls throughout the trip, having to instead rely on text messages due to the time difference in the west coast cities and John's very full schedule. The final leg of the tour found John in New York. He was scheduled to give a few lectures at the prestigious universities there, sign some books and do a reading at the flagship Barnes and Noble and then it was finally home to his Anna. He couldn't wait. He loved the success he found from his writing and was proud of how well he was able to provide for Anna and their future, yet the frequent travel was getting to be too much. He couldn't even imagine how he'd handle it should they be lucky enough to have children. Plus, he worried about Anna when he was away, especially when she mentioned she thought she was coming down with something the last time they talked on the phone a few days ago. He pulled out his phone, and noticing that it was an ideal time to call Anna, he quickly dialed and waited to be connected to the love of his life once more.

Anna sat in the makeshift dressing room situated in the master bathroom of her and John's flat while Sybil set up her equipment in the bedroom and a team of hair and make-up people worked to give her a naturally tousled, yet seductive look. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, hardly recognizing herself. She looked _sexy _and just knew that John would think the same. Just then, she heard the unmistakable sound of U2 coming from her phone sitting next to her on the counter. That could only mean one thing.

With a smile gracing her features, she answered the call. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too my love. We're finally in the same time of day!"

"I know. And to think, in only a few days I'll be in your arms."  
"I can't wait for that day to come. I miss you. How are you, feeling better?"

She sighed, knowing how much he was probably brooding over her fret of illness from a few days ago. "I'm better today. I felt a little off when I woke up, but I'm much better now."

"Well, if you don't feel better tomorrow, I want you to go to the doctor." All of the sudden, John heard the sound of very loud pop music filtering through the line. He couldn't for the life of him distinguish the artist; that was more his wife's type of music. "What's going on over there?"

Wincing at the volume of the music, Anna muffled the phone against her shoulder and shouted at Sybil to turn down the music for the moment, before returning to her conversation with John. "Sybil's here and we're getting ready to work on a little project."

"Oh? What's it for?"  
"I'm not telling. It's a secret."

"Hmmm, I'm not sure I like the sound of that. Keeping secrets from your own husband Mrs. Bates? Whatever next?"

"You'll find out soon enough, but not today. Now as much as I love talking to you, I must really get going before Sybil needs to leave for another appointment."

"Oh fine. I suppose I should go get my notes ready for my lecture anyway. Have fun with Sybil and the secret you won't tell me anything about. I'll text you later. Oh! And go to the doctor if you don't feel well. Please."

"Don't be so put out. I promise you'll find out soon enough, and I daresay you'll enjoy it very much. I promise. And I'll ring the doctor in the morning. Now get. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye love."

Ringing off with John, Anna placed her phone back on the countertop and rose to join Sybil in the bedroom, securing her robe around her for the moment.

"Ok Syb, let's do this."

Sybil looked up from her camera, doing her final check with the lighting in the bedroom and motioned for Anna to remove her robe and kneel on the bed.

Dropping her robe, Anna blushed slightly, realizing she was wearing nothing but one of John's blue dress shirts and a tiny pair of panties in front of her husband's goddaughter. "I think you'll need to turn the music back up, Sybil. I'm suddenly losing my nerve."

Having done many of these boudoir shoots before, Sybil knew exactly what she needed to say and do to make her clients feel comfortable enough to take natural, and sexy photos. "Ok Anna, just pretend this camera is John. As much as I feel gross for saying this considering he's practically an uncle to me, just act how you'd act if this were John here with you."

Giggling, Anna couldn't help but recall the things she'd done for John in the past and how insatiable they got for each other on a consistent basis, and blushed even more.

With the increase in volume of the music and thoughts of her husband in her mind, Anna crawled onto the middle of their bed and posed, pretending John was in front of her while Sybil gave her direction and snapped photos, getting all the shots she needed to complete Anna's anniversary gift to her husband.

Feeling an increased level of confidence, Anna suggested a few more outfit changes to spice things up. She took a few pictures in John's favorite piece of lingerie; with a special appearance by the garter she wore on their wedding day and finished off with a set wearing nothing but John's Manchester United jersey. She was in no doubt that her husband would very much love her anniversary gift to him.

As promised, Anna rang her doctor the next day and arranged an appointment for later in the afternoon. She only felt ill for part of the day and figured it was probably nothing, but she knew her husband and knew he would only brood until she knew for sure. Even thousands of miles away she could sense he was brooding at this very moment.

The smile could not be contained on her face as she left the doctor's office later that day. It seemed she would need to add something a little extra to John's gift, but she needed to act quickly as he was due home the following night.

Finally the day of John's return home came. He'd called from the airport an hour ago and would be home momentarily. Anna was in their en suite bathroom putting the finishing touches on her hair and makeup, trying almost successfully to recreate the look from her photo shoot with Sybil. Feeling satisfied with the results, Anna went to take her position on their bed, adjusting her very short, and very tight blue sequined dress so that it showed off her figure in the most flattering of ways. Her hair was loose and tousled, just how John liked it, and her toned legs were on display, another of John's weaknesses. She was ready to give him the welcome home and anniversary gift he would remember forever. Just as she finished her thought, she heard the jingle of John's keys in the lock and the front door opening and closing.

"Anna, I'm home! Where are you?"

"I'm in the bedroom! Come find me!"

Normally Anna would come out from wherever she was to greet him, but the fact that she didn't caused John to think that maybe something special was about to happen. He walked to their bedroom as quickly as he could and when he walked through the door, the sight before him stole his breath. There was Anna knelt on the bed looking as gorgeous as she had ever looked. Everything about her at that moment was the most perfect vision. Try as he might, he couldn't even begin to find words adequate enough to describe her. So instead, he stood gaping at her like a teenaged boy seeing a naked woman for the first time.

Anna crawled across the bed to where he was standing and rose to her knees to bring herself level with her speechless husband. Reaching a hand up, she gently placed it on his chin to close his gaping mouth before reaching up with her lips to give him a very thorough welcome home kiss, which she suspected stunned him further into silence.

"Well husband, aren't you going to say anything," Anna asked, her lips brushing his as she could not bring herself to draw any further away from his mouth.

This seemed to shake him from his trance as he brought his hands up to caress her, running a gentle path from her hips to her neck, taking slight detours to run his hands along her bottom and through the loose tendrils of her hair. "My god, Anna, you look stunning. What's this all about? Not that I'm complaining mind you."

"It's part of your Welcome Home gift, to be followed by your anniversary gift. Now, I know it's only Tuesday and our anniversary isn't until Friday, but I can't wait. Do you mind if I give you your gift now?"

"Well, if it has anything to do with how you're dressed right now, I'd be an idiot to refuse."

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that. Stay right there." Anna pulled herself from John's loose embrace to scamper to their closet to find her gift. Of course, she made sure to sway her hips as she walked. She didn't want her husband to lose focus after all. She reemerged a moment later holding a small photo album, a red bow secured to the front with it being her husband's favorite color and all.

Her shyness from her day with Sybil returned, as she suddenly felt self-conscious about her gift. What if he thought it was too risqué or inappropriate?

Those thoughts were banished from her head immediately as she watched her husband remove the bow and open to the first photo - the one of her in his dress shirt - when the cheeky grin she loved emerged on his face. He looked up and made eye contact with her, the grin still in place with his adorable eye crinkles deepening. "My god, Anna, I thought coming home to you like you are now was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen, but this…" he continued flipping through the book; Anna in his favorite lingerie, Anna with his favorite garter, good lord, Anna in his Manchester United jersey. "You naughty girl. My naughty girl."

Anna looked on, watching as he turned page after page, growing more nervous as he reached the end. She gently bit the tip of her thumb, usually a move to seduce her husband, but this time done out of nerves. There was one final picture left. The surprise she'd thought of after her visit to the doctor.

She watched as John's face lit up, first with surprise, and then with shock, and then with the happiest look she'd seen on him outside their wedding day.

On the last page of the album was Anna, posed as seductively as possible in a white t-shirt emblazoned with a yellow sign, which simply stated 'Baby on Board.' She knew John understood the meaning right away, but felt the need to confirm the meaning in words anyway.

"I'm pregnant John. We're finally going to have a baby. That's why I was feeling out of sorts recently."

"Oh Anna, this is the best anniversary gift I could ever have asked for. Come here."

Anna went enthusiastically into John's embrace to seal their happiness with a deep, loving kiss. Soon the album was forgotten on the floor as the need to celebrate their reunion, anniversary and joyous news became the most pressing need. After five years of blissful marriage, unsuccessful pregnancy attempts and frustrating medical news, they were finally blessed with the news of a child. Life really couldn't get much better.

**A/N: The original plan was for this to be a little spicy, but when I started writing, fluff came out. Oh well, maybe next time!**


End file.
